


Paper is mightier than steel

by oliverthelongfurby



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019), The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:01:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28875360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oliverthelongfurby/pseuds/oliverthelongfurby
Summary: “I’ve done this before, little archivist. Statement of Paperstar, Regarding the… Journey to an avatar.”“An avatar?”“A thing that harnesses fear. You’re well on your way to becoming one.”
Kudos: 14





	Paper is mightier than steel

**Author's Note:**

> Me? Writing for another series that isn't TMA? It's less likely than you think!
> 
> This is for a CSxTMA au I'm writing! While the work itself is a oneshot, I plan to write it as a series one day! :-)
> 
> She/they/he for Julia

Julia walked behind the store. It was dark. Another day, another dead end. She was considering giving up, calling it quits and going back to the archives, but the intel the… thing could provide was invaluable.

So instead of calling Ivy and begging her to buy Julia’s broke ass a ticket back to the UK, Julia walked through the dark Japanese streets, flinching at the noises.

She understood the words on every sign fine. 

She had no reason to.

Japanese had been a language she’d struggled with since they had first taken the class in high school, and eventually had dropped the class in favor of French because, “It would be more useful.” She did end up living in France for eleven years, so they were right on that front, she guessed.

They knew there was a hotel two blocks down that would let her stay in it for a cheaper price than the one she was passing, she knew that they had a free breakfast that would sustain them.

Jesus Christ.

Despite how much he disliked it, he kept walking, because they weren’t… UNGRATEFUL for their new spooky powers. Just. Disdainful.

She was near the entrance of the hotel when they felt watched. He turned around, just in time to see a shoe kicking them square in the face.

“Ah!” They were knocked to the ground, and he smelled blood filling her nostrils.

Her heart pounded as she reached for the knife in her pocket. 

Stay calm, stay calm, survive, survive, stay calm, stay calm, survive, survive, She repeated over and over in her head. Their hands shook, and they felt a hot liquid roll down them.

“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.” A calm voice cut through the loud silence of Julia’s thoughts

Julia looked over. A figure stood over her. The person had long hair, down to their waist, split dyed dark and light blue. They had colorful makeup, and a small smile on their face that didn’t fit their hollow eyes. Blood stained their shoes, probably the same blood that dripped down Julia’s face from his mouth.

The person laughed. It was quiet, and it hurt Julia’s head. “Little Archivist. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“I’m sorry- what?” Julia stammered, the knife forgotten.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” The person pulled out a piece of paper and began folding it. They weren’t looking at Julia, but Julia felt watched, still. “Where are my manners?”

The person reached out their hand and pulled Julia up by the collar of his shirt. Julia was sure they’d have a bruise on their neck.

“My name is Paperstar. I heard you were looking for me.” The thing calling itself Paperstar did not put Julia down. 

Julia struggled to breathe as the person continued. “I wondered what the eye’s slave wanted for me, so I decided to seek you out.” Paperstar smelled like blood. “You leave a path, you know. I’m honestly shocked. I don’t think I could hurt more people in one day than you did two days ago.” It laughed. “Not without proper preparation.” It still didn’t meet Julia’s eyes.

The thing’s nails cut into Julia. Her skin may as well have been paper. 

Paperstar dropped Julia on her knees. She gasped for breath while it laughed again. It didn’t hurt that time.

After a moment, Julia struggled to her feet.

Paperstar cocked it’s head like a curious dog. “What DID you want to know, Little Archivist?”

“I…” Julia didn’t know what to ask. She’d been looking for this… Paperstar for DAYS and had no idea what to ask.

“Do you want my statement?”

“What?”

“It’s a simple question. Answer it.” Paperstar smiled. The thing it had been folding was visible in its hands. A paper star. How poetic. It still didn’t meet Julia’s gaze.

“Is Paperstar your real name?” Julia was curious.

The thing became angry in a second. Within a moment, Julia was pressed against the wall, Paperstar’s hand around her neck, paper star pressed against her face. It cut into her skin, and she immediately knew that it was sharper than steel.

“Do not try to compel me. It will not go well for you.”

“I- I didn’t mean too-” Julia gasped and kicked her legs, which was rewarded with the paper star moving from her face to her legs and cutting through the fabric down to the skin below.

“What you did or did not mean means nothing. Either you control yourself, or I purposely make myself an enemy of the eye.”

“I’m sorry- I- please put me down-”

Julia tried to not make it a demand. Julia tried to remain non threatening as possible, because the thing that was holding her right now could probably kill them in seconds. Probably. They might drag it out for the pain…

Paperstar put Julia down. On their feet this time. Which was nice.

“So. Do you want my statement?” The thing was calm then, anger gone into the same icy coldness as before.

Julia wanted to say no. Julia wanted to run into the night, crying, until she found a phone that she could dial Ivy and beg for forgiveness for leaving so suddenly.

But that was a lie.

Julia hungered for Paperstar’s statement. She was starving for the words, the way that Julia would feel after the statement, like she’d just eaten for the first time in months.

“Yes,” They said.

“Very well, then.”

“Statement of-”

“I’ve done this before, little archivist. Statement of Paperstar, Regarding the… Journey to an avatar.”

“An avatar?”

“A thing that harnesses fear. You’re well on your way to becoming one.” The words themself weren’t cruel, but they were said in such a way it was almost… mocking.

“Anyway,” The thing continued, “Onto my life story. I was born in a small village in Japan, ya da ya da ya da, my parents never loved me, ya da ya da ya da. I was the disgraceful transgender, the one who destroyed our family honor, blah blah blah. The point is, I was never enough for my parents. So when I started getting harassed by two boys at school, they called the office and asked them to stop. Once.

“Obviously they didn’t.” Paperstar looked almost angry. “They’d hit me with tennis rackets, steal my stuff, call me names. All typical things.

“I took comfort in the arts. So stereotypical, but hey, it happened. It was nice. I was already really good at origami, so I just… sharpened my skills a little.” It laughed at the pun. Julia wasn’t sure if it was talking in English, Japanese, or another language, and she didn’t care to know.

“How ironic, then, that the day they decided they were going to throw me off a bridge, the only thing in my bag was paper. It wasn’t a small bridge, either. Probably thirty feet high into eight feet of water.” It scowled, and it’s form almost… flickered. “So they picked me up by my sneakers and dangled me over the bridge and told me to beg for my life.

“I thought they were going to kill me. They might have, you know. I was a featherweight in high school. I didn’t know what to do. So I just grabbed a paper star out of my pocket, and threw it at the one holding me.

“He dropped me. I didn’t know what I wanted to happen, I was scared and I just wanted to get out of the situation. But he dropped me, and I split my head open on a rock.

“They freaked, called an ambulance, and I got away without scrambling my brains too much.

“Well, in the physical sense. In the mental sense, I started… planning. I decided I was going to kill them, and I was going to make it hurt.” It smiled, and Julia shivered. “And I decided, what better to do it than by paper?

“So I learned to fold paper sharper than knives. I learned to throw it with deadly precision, and I studied the human body. It’s incredibly fascinating, how many weaknesses you have that you might not even know of, little archivist.

“And after… four weeks? No, five weeks, I followed them home, and I threw paper stars at them. You don’t need the gory details. The point is, after an hour that was very painful for them and very fun for me, they were both dead. I didn’t hide the bodies. I’m not sure why I never got caught, honestly. Maybe it’s because when they did come to question me, my mom gave me an alibi because she couldn’t remember where I was, anyway.

“That should have been enough. It wasn’t, obviously. I wouldn't be here if it was enough. I started killing other people. I’d go into public, pick a target, and torture, maybe kill them. Sometimes I’d do it in front of others. I never got caught. It was… interesting.

“After I graduated high school, I went to college, blah blah blah, and I think that’s when I started to need the violence. It was so liberating. I did graduate college. Everyone’s always shocked when I tell them that. 

“Then I went back home and killed my whole family. Two parents, three siblings, one grandfather.

“I can’t remember my siblings' names. It’s all foggy. It sounds tragic, but they’re better dead than they ever were alive.

“That’s it, little Archivist.”

“That’s… it?” Julia stammered.

“Yes. I suppose you’re used to long, tragic stories of woe, but I don’t really have one of those.”

“Right then… Uh… end statement.”

Usually the tape recorders would click off then. Julia realised after a moment it was still recording. They couldn’t remember when she’d turned it on.

“Goodbye, little Archivist. Oh, one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t try to chase after others the way you did with me.” Paperstar pulled a piece of paper and started folding it absentmindedly. “It won’t end well for you at all.”

Julia stared at Paperstar as it walked away. The smell of blood was heavy in the air, and Julia’s mind felt clearer than it had in weeks.

**Author's Note:**

> *"john peters, you know, the farmer" voice*: Julia argent, you know, the archivist?


End file.
